Weathered
by PinkyLemon
Summary: A songfic of Creed's "Weathered." A few of the main charas of Blade of the Immortal think about their situations in life. Barely there shonen-ai, won't notice it unless you look. R&R please!


As I was listening to my Creed cd, I noticed how several of the songs applied to BotI. Well, at least in my mind. So this story begins after Hyakurin has been rescued by Giichi from horrible rape and torture. I've decided that he brought her to Master Sori's house to recover. I've never done a song fic before, but it's been creeping into my mind, so I thought I'd give it a try.  
"Weathered"  
  
  
//I lie awake on a long, dark night  
I can't seem to tame my mind//  
  
Hyakurin thrashes violently in her bed. Her battered arms reaching out into the dark.  
  
//Slings and arrows are killing me inside//  
  
In her struggle, she rolls off the futon, which wakes her abruptly. She snaps her eyes open in terror, but realizes where she is. Slightly relieved, she gingerly lays back down.  
  
*I'm here. In Master Sori's house. Giichi came for me.*   
  
"I'm okay, now," she says aloud to reasure herself. But her nose starts to tingle, making her sniff as her eyes prickle with tears.  
  
//Maybe I can't accept the life that's mine  
No I can't accept the life that's mine//  
  
"Oh, jeeze. What the heck do I think I'm doing? Shira was right, he's got skills and experience ten fold what I'll ever have," the tears threaten to spill out as she strains to speak.   
  
"Why do I have to be such a--a woman?" She sobs quietly into her pillow.  
  
//Simple living is my desperate cry  
Been trading love with indifference yeah it suits me just fine//  
  
Anotsu sits silently outside his room at Ibane's dojo, contemplating the route his life has taken.  
  
*Do I really want Hisoka as my wife? She's willing enough, but she seems so...passive. Do I really have a choice? I could've chosen Makie.*  
  
//I try to hold on but I'm calloused to the bone//  
  
*I couldn't love Makie as a wife...or Hisoka. A family will only hold me back. Do I really want my children to carry the burden I and my father before me have carried for my grandfather? It seems almost ridiculous how far it's gone...I don't need anyone, not even Magatsu. I don't know how...to love.*  
  
//Maybe that's why I feel alone  
Maybe that's why I feel so alone//  
  
Back at Master Sori's house, Manji lays listening to Hyakurin's quiet talking turn into quiet crying. Hearing her vulnerable side was almost...comforting to the jaded swordsman. Until he begins to think of why she'd been hurt.  
  
*What if I hadn't kicked her out so soon? Maybe Shinriji would still be alive.*  
  
Manji rolls over, but groans as his scars are pulled tightly against his skin.  
  
*Still not a hundred percent, yet.*  
  
Hyakurin's cries subside as Manji's eyes fall closed, heavy with sleep.  
  
//Me...I'm rusted and weathered  
Barely holding together  
I'm covered with skin that peels and it just won't heal//  
  
Rin's sleeping in the woods tonight. She had promised herself she'd only stay in clean hotels, with baths. That was until the 'helpful' local man who warned her of leaving her things where they could be stolen, took her money. Light pools over her face as the sun rises.  
  
//The sun shines and I can't avoid the light//  
  
Rin stirs but gives in to the relentless morning sun and decides to get up. She rolls out of a pile of leaves and paws around for her things.  
  
"How am I ever going to find Anotsu? Will I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted once he's dead? Is it even worth it anymore? I kill him, somebody kills me. End of story."   
  
//Ashes to ashes dust to dust//  
  
She kneels and says a little prayer for her parents.  
  
"No. I don't think I can ever be satisfied no matter what happens. They're dead and I can't bring them back."  
  
//Sometimes I feel like giving up  
Sometimes I feel like giving up//  
  
Rin stands up and heads towards the road, confusion clouding her mind.  
  
//Me...I'm rusted and weathered  
Barely holding together  
I'm covered in skin that peels and it just won't heal//  
  
Magatsu groggily sits up in bed, his hair resembling a porcupine. He rubs his eyes and remembers he's still at Sori's house.   
  
*What a dream. O-Ren being killed was one thing, but Anotsu, too?"  
  
//The day reminds me of you  
The night hides your truth//  
  
*I left him behind. Or did he leave me?*  
  
//The earth is a voice  
Speaking to you//   
  
"Stop this game, Anotsu. Japan won't bow down to you. Not even me."  
  
//Take all this pride  
And leave it behind//  
  
Anotsu returns to his room, with one last look outside.  
  
//Because one day it ends  
One day we die//  
  
....Shinriji....Machi....Rin's parents.....O-ren....Anotsu's father and grandfather....  
  
"What next?" Rin wonders, stumbling down a rocky slope.  
  
//Believe what you will  
That is your right  
But I choose to win//  
  
Manji's light dosing is pierced with a ray of sun over his eye. He grumbles, now unsure of if he should find Rin or help Magatsu first. "I'll keep on doin' what I've been doin'," Manji says aloud, finally.  
  
//So I choose to fight//  
  
Manji rolls over and falls into a deep sleep. Rin walks slowly down the dirt road. Hyakurin dreams of a better life. Magatsu thinks of Anotsu. Anotsu turns and glares into the rising sun.  
  
//To fight//  
  
  
  
Comments? Reviews? Click the button. Ja ne for now.   
Disclaimer: Weathered is property of Creed, Blade of the Immortal is property of Hiroaki Samura, and the story was thought of by PinkyLemon. 


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